UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley (17) runs out of the pocket with Oregon State Beavers defensive tackle Joe Lopez (79) in pursuit at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, September 22, 2012. Oregon State knocked off UCLA, 27-20.

Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly, left, tries to get away from Missouri linebacker Andrew Wilson during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012, in Columbia, Mo. Missouri won 24-20.

The Pac-12 can change the number next to its name all it wants, but one trademark never changes: The Pac-12 is to quarterbacks what Detroit is to cars.

The only difference is Pac-12 quarterbacks are more valuable.

Four of the top nine in NFL career passing yards come from Pac-12 schools. Seven current starting NFL quarterbacks are from the Pac-12, the most of any conference. Like assembly lines churning out strong arms from the desert of the Southwest to the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the Pac-12’s tradition continues this year. A new wave of young quarterbacks has guaranteed the Pac-12 will keep winging its reputation into the future.

Five of the league’s 12 starting quarterbacks are underclassmen. One of the most promising comes into Folsom Field on Saturday, when UCLA redshirt freshman Brett Hundley leads the Bruins (3-1) against Colorado (1-3).

The kids make up the top four in the conference in pass efficiency, led by Arizona State sophomore Taylor Kelly, who is ninth nationally in new ASU coach Todd Graham’s spread offense. Then you have Oregon redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota, who has picked up where Darron Thomas left off; Hundley; and Oregon State sophomore Sean Mannion, who’s merely sixth nationally with 327.5 passing yards per game.

Add sophomore Connor Halliday of Washington State, trying to survive while his inexperienced offensive line matures, and you have a fraternity that will be big on campus for another two or three years.

“It bodes well for a lot of good football,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said on this week’s Pac-12 conference call.

Way before Texas started its 7-on-7 summer passing leagues, the run-and-shoot and pro-set offenses were standard in West Coast high schools. Hundley came from one of those offenses at Chandler (Ariz.) High. Rick Neuheisel signed him two years ago, hoping the five-star recruit would save his offense. Hundley is saving it one year too late to save Neuheisel’s job. Hundley’s uphill arc the last three weeks reads 305, 320 and 362 yards passing, with seven touchdowns and just two interceptions.

“Every week he seems to be a little bit more comfortable with the things we’re asking him to do, with the reads we’re asking him to make, with the decisions we’re asking him to make,” first-year UCLA coach Jim Mora said. “Brett is an excellent leader. He’s a big, physical guy with an excellent arm. His timing and his decision making have been very good.”

Mannion isn’t a huge surprise. He took over Oregon State’s starting job as a freshman last September. But the strides he has made have helped give the 18th-ranked Beavers (2-0) their highest ranking in three years.

“The best thing is just his knowledge,” Riley said. “He’s a tremendously hardworking, diligent guy. He spent the whole offseason looking at film and working with players. He loves to play football and loves to know about it.”

The biggest recruiting steal may be Oregon getting Mariota. He sat on the bench for two years at Honolulu’s St. Louis High before starting his senior year. Obscured by an entire ocean, his 2,597 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes only attracted intense attention from Oregon, Washington, Utah, Memphis and Hawaii.

But after redshirting last year, Mariota got his chance and beat out sophomore Bryan Bennett in August camp. Mariota already has 10 TD passes against two interceptions and is completing 70 percent of his passes. Last Saturday, Oregon whitewashed then-No. 22 Arizona 49-0.

“A lot of things impress me about Marcus,” Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. “He’s smart. He’s got a quick release. He’s got good feet. He’s got a great understanding of what we do. He’s got a good feel for the game. He doesn’t get rattled by the moment. New situations come up every week, and he usually doesn’t make the same mistake twice.”

Entering August camp, Kelly was just one of three reserves waiting their turn to replace Brock Osweiler, who was drafted by the Broncos. Kelly beat out fellow sophomore Mike Bercovici and redshirt freshman Michael Eubank and has made Arizona State one of the league’s surprise teams at 3-1.

Hitting at a red-hot 73 percent, the Eagle (Idaho) High product’s 182.2 passer rating puts him in the nation’s top 10.

“He’s met all of our expectations,” Graham said. “Obviously, we adapt each year to a different skill set. What we want in a quarterback is a guy who can lead your team down the field, a guy that people follow. And he is off the chart when it comes to leadership and character and his ability to move the offense.”

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